Desert Residents to Meet, Learn and Express Their Concerns to Los Angeles Power Officials
On Saturday morning, July 19, local residents will have their first opportunity to meet with the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) to discuss the utility's proposed 500kV transmission line project through high desert communities. The meeting will be held in Yucca Valley at the high school, 10 a.m. to noon.
The California Desert Coalition (CDC), a group formed specifically to oppose the transmission line route through the high desert, has planned a "Stop the Towers" poster contest before the meeting, referring to the massive metal transmission towers that would be constructed. CDC Vice Chair Ruth Rieman says that "A strong showing of community residents at this LADWP public meeting will be the tipping point in getting LADWP to choose a more appropriate route than the one through our communities and desert."
From 9 to 10 a.m., everyone is invited to enjoy refreshments and participate in the poster contest. Prizes will be awarded for the top three most creative protest signs brought to the event. Prizes are $300 for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place. Judging of the protest signs will be at 9:15 a.m.
April Sall, CDC Chair, says there has been a lack of transparency on the part of the Los Angeles public utility in its planning for the transmission lines. She wonders why it has taken so long for LADWP to hold public meetings, which have been promised for over a year. Sall sees a clear analogy between LADWP's actions on this project and its previous actions in its taking of water from the Owens Valley.
CDC suggests that LADWP has better alternatives for increasing its renewable energy supply (the stated purpose for the project) than a new transmission line through rural high desert communities and pristine desert lands. Use of the existing I-10 transmission corridor is one of these options.
LADWP has requested a new federal energy corridor and route for high transmission power lines along an 85-mile-long route that begins in Desert Hot Springs and passes through Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Pioneertown, Flamingo Heights, Landers, Johnson Valley, Lucerne Valley, and Apple Valley, terminating in Hesperia. The project is called Green Path North (GPN).
According to Bureau of Land Management records, if approved, the energy corridor would be between 2 and 5 miles wide on public lands managed by the agency, and once designated would be open to oil and water pipelines, as well as electrical transmission. One difficulty is that private property is interspersed with public lands and makes up 30 miles of the proposed route. According to CDC spokesperson Dave Miller, LADWP would have to "connect the dots" of publicly owned land with unnecessary condemnation of more than 1000 private properties through eminent domain powers allowed by the 2005 federal Energy Policy Act.
Resolutions in opposition to the power line route have been passed by cities and community organizations all along the route, as well as by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Exclusion of the public from the planning process and the lack of clear benefits to the county as a whole have left local residents feeling the project is not being fairly pursued. Most commonly mentioned concerns are the taking of properties by eminent domain; devaluation of properties; health risks, especially to children, from EMF; damage to the local tourist-dependent economy (associated with neighboring Joshua Tree National Park); scarring of scenic vistas; and environmental devastation to desert wildlands.
Meeting Location: Yucca Valley High School, 7600 Sage Avenue, Yucca Valley (Google Map Link)
MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: At California Desert Coalition and on the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts on this blog: Energy, Green Path North.
